U.S. patent number 11,138,369 [Application Number 16/549,922] was granted by the patent office on 2021-10-05 for experiment information management system, experiment note system, and experiment information management method.
This patent grant is currently assigned to OLYMPUS CORPORATION. The grantee listed for this patent is OLYMPUS CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Toshiyuki Hattori, Ryoji Kitamura, Yoshihiro Ue, Takuto Yamane.
United States Patent |
11,138,369 |
Yamane , et al. |
October 5, 2021 |
Experiment information management system, experiment note system,
and experiment information management method
Abstract
An experiment information management system includes a first
experiment apparatus configured to generate first experiment result
information and first log data; a recording apparatus configured to
record the first experiment result information and the first log
data generated in the first experiment apparatus; and an experiment
note generation apparatus configured to generate an experiment note
being a record of an experiment, according to at least the first
experiment result information and the first log data recorded in
the recording apparats.
Inventors: |
Yamane; Takuto (Tokyo,
JP), Hattori; Toshiyuki (Tokyo, JP), Ue;
Yoshihiro (Tokyo, JP), Kitamura; Ryoji (Tokyo,
JP) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
OLYMPUS CORPORATION |
Hachioji |
N/A |
JP |
|
|
Assignee: |
OLYMPUS CORPORATION (Tokyo,
JP)
|
Family
ID: |
1000005844668 |
Appl.
No.: |
16/549,922 |
Filed: |
August 23, 2019 |
Prior Publication Data
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|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20200065363 A1 |
Feb 27, 2020 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Aug 27, 2018 [JP] |
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JP2018-158158 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G02B
21/367 (20130101); G06T 11/60 (20130101); G06F
40/174 (20200101); G06F 40/166 (20200101); G02B
21/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
40/174 (20200101); G06T 11/60 (20060101); G06F
40/166 (20200101); G02B 21/00 (20060101); G06F
17/00 (20190101); G02B 21/36 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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2008083806 |
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Apr 2008 |
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2012113468 |
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Jun 2012 |
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2014160423 |
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Sep 2014 |
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JP |
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2015065822 |
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Apr 2015 |
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JP |
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2015082097 |
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Apr 2015 |
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JP |
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2016031698 |
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Mar 2016 |
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JP |
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Primary Examiner: Tran; Quoc A
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Holtz, Holtz & Volek PC
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An experiment information management system comprising: a first
experiment apparatus configured to generate first experiment result
information and first log data; a recording apparatus configured to
record the first experiment result information and the first log
data generated in the first experiment apparatus; an experiment
note generation apparatus configured to generate an experiment note
being a record of an experiment, according to at least the first
experiment result information and the first log data recorded in
the recording apparatus; and a screen generation apparatus
configured to generate an experiment note display screen according
to at least the experiment note, wherein: the first experiment
apparatus comprises a microscope apparatus configured to generate a
microscopic image of a specimen, the microscopic image being the
first experiment result information, the experiment note display
screen includes a first field for displaying the microscopic image
and a second field for graphically displaying a temporal change of
a state of the first experiment apparatus, and the second field is
generated according to at least time-series data included in the
experiment note, the time-series data being for a period that
includes an obtaining period for obtaining the microscopic image
and that is longer than the obtaining period.
2. The experiment information management system according to claim
1, wherein: the recording apparatus records the first experiment
result information and the first log data in a state in which the
first experiment result information and the first log data are
associated with identification information, and the experiment note
generation apparatus: classifies, by the identification
information, the first experiment result information and the first
log data recorded in the recording apparatus; and generates the
experiment note for each identification information.
3. The experiment information management system according to claim
2, further comprising: a second experiment apparatus that is
different from the first experiment apparatus and that is
configured to generate second experiment result information and
second log data, wherein: the recording apparatus records the
second experiment result information and the second log data in a
state in which the second experiment result information and the
second log data are associated with the identification information,
and the experiment note generation apparatus: classifies, by the
identification information, the first experiment result
information, the first log data, the second experiment result
information, and the second log data recorded in the recording
apparatus; and generates the experiment note for each
identification information.
4. The experiment information management system according to claim
3, wherein the identification information comprises user
identification information that identifies a user of the first
experiment apparatus.
5. The experiment information management system according to claim
3, wherein: the identification information comprises experiment
identification information that identifies an experiment; and the
experiment identification information is determined according to an
operation of a user of the first experiment apparatus.
6. The experiment information management system according to claim
3, wherein each of the first experiment apparatus and the second
experiment apparatus comprises a network interface for connecting
to a network and is configured to record the first log data and the
second log data, via the network, in the recording apparatus
connected to the network.
7. The experiment information management system according to claim
6, wherein the network includes Internet at least as a part of
transmission lines between each of the first experiment apparatus
and the second experiment apparatus and the recording
apparatus.
8. The experiment information management system according to claim
2, wherein the identification information comprises user
identification information that identifies a user of the first
experiment apparatus.
9. The experiment information management system according to claim
2, wherein: the identification information comprises experiment
identification information that identifies an experiment; and the
experiment identification information is determined according to an
operation of a user of the first experiment apparatus.
10. The experiment information management system according to claim
1, wherein the experiment note generation apparatus updates the
experiment note according to at least information input to the
experiment note display screen.
11. An experiment information management system comprising: a first
experiment apparatus configured to generate first experiment result
information and first log data; a recording apparatus configured to
record the first experiment result information and the first log
data generated in the first experiment apparatus; an experiment
note generation apparatus configured to generate an experiment note
being a record of an experiment, according to at least the first
experiment result information and the first log data recorded in
the recording apparatus; and a screen generation apparatus
configured to generate an experiment note display screen according
to at least the experiment note, wherein: the first experiment
apparatus comprises a microscope apparatus configured to generate a
microscopic image of a specimen, the microscopic image being the
first experiment result information; the experiment note generation
apparatus generates the experiment note according to at least the
microscopic image, the first log data, and a measurement result
output from a sensor configured to output information related to
the specimen; the experiment note display screen includes a field
for displaying the microscopic image and a field for graphically
displaying a temporal change of a state of the first experiment
apparatus and a temporal change of a state of the specimen; and the
field for graphically displaying is generated according to at least
time-series data included in the experiment note, the time-series
data being for a period that includes an obtaining period for
obtaining the microscopic image and that is longer than the
obtaining period.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority
from prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-158158, filed Aug.
27, 2018, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by
this reference.
FIELD
The embodiments disclosed herein relate to an experiment
information management system, an experiment note system, and an
experiment information management method.
BACKGROUND
Experiment notes being the records of experiments are important
resource related to research activities, and effective utilization
of experiment notes has been desired. However, conventionally,
experimenters themselves create experiment notes by recording
various information related to experiments, and therefore, the
amounts of entry and entry items of the notes vary between
experimenters. For this reason, it is difficult to compare and
reproduce experiments using experiment notes, making it impossible
to effectively utilize experiment notes.
A technique related to this technical issue described above is
disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-083806,
for example. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-083806
describes a system for easily digitizing experiment notes. The
system disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No.
2008-083806 checks whether all the mandatory entry items have been
entered, and if they have not been entered, a dialog is displayed
to prompt the experiment note to be created again. Thus, it becomes
possible to prevent omissions of mandatory entry items.
SUMMARY
An experiment information management system according to an aspect
of the present invention includes a first experiment apparatus
configured to generate first experiment result information and
first log data; a recording apparatus configured to record the
first experiment result information and the first log data
generated in the first experiment apparatus; and an experiment note
generation apparatus configured to generate an experiment note
being a record of an experiment, according to at least the first
experiment result information and the first log data recorded in
the recording apparats.
An experiment note system according to an aspect of the present
invention includes an experiment note generation apparatus
configured to generate an experiment note being a record of an
experiment according to at least first experiment result
information and first log data generated in a first experiment
apparatus; and a screen generation apparatus configured to generate
an experiment note display screen according to at least the
experiment note generated in the experiment note generation
apparatus.
An experiment information management method according to an aspect
of the present invention includes obtaining first experiment result
information and first log data generated in a first experiment
apparatus; and generating an experiment note being a record of an
experiment according to at least the first experiment result
information and the first log data.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of an experiment information
management system 1 according to the first embodiment as an
example.
FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration of a microscope 20 as an
example.
FIG. 3 illustrates a configuration of a microscope control
apparatus 30 as an example.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the processes performed in an experiment
system 10.
FIG. 5 illustrates a table 50a for authentication in the experiment
system 10 as an example.
FIG. 6 is a drawing for explaining the timings of obtaining and
recording experiment information.
FIG. 7 illustrates log data recorded in an external storage
apparatus 50 as an example.
FIG. 8 illustrates a configuration of an experiment note system 100
as an example.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an experiment notes generation process
performed in the experiment note system 100.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a display screen generation process
performed in the experiment note system 100.
FIG. 11 illustrates a table 113a for authentication permission
control of the experiment note system 100 as an example.
FIG. 12 illustrates an example of an experiment note display
screen.
FIG. 13 illustrates conventional experiment notes as an
example.
FIG. 14 illustrates another example of an experiment note display
screen.
FIG. 15 illustrates an example of an experiment selection
screen.
FIG. 16 illustrates yet another example of an experiment note
display screen.
FIG. 17 illustrates yet another example of an experiment note
display screen.
FIG. 18 is a drawing for explaining how to use the experiment note
display screen illustrated in FIG. 17.
FIG. 19 illustrates yet another example of an experiment note
display screen.
FIG. 20A is a drawing for explaining how to use the experiment note
display screen illustrated in FIG. 19.
FIG. 20B is a drawing for explaining how to use the experiment note
display screen illustrated in FIG. 19.
FIG. 21 illustrates a configuration of an experiment information
management system 1a according to the second embodiment as an
example.
FIG. 22 illustrates a configuration of an experiment information
management system 1b according to the third embodiment as an
example.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
In the system disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication
No. 2008-083806, experiment notes can be digitized, but the input
of entry items needs to be done by experimenters. For this reason,
experimenters need to keep records constantly during experiments,
which prevents them from concentrating on the operations of the
experiments and the studies of experiment results, and so on. In
addition, when multiple experiments are conducted parallelly in
terms of time, it may be impossible to keep all the necessary
records.
First Embodiment
FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of an experiment information
management system 1 according to this embodiment as an example. The
experiment information management system 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 is
a system that manages experiment information and includes an
experiment system 10 and an experiment note system 100. Meanwhile,
explanation is made below using an example of a biological
experiment using a living subject such as a mouse M (see FIG. 2) as
a specimen, but the management target of the experiment information
management system 1 is not limited to biological experiment
information.
First, the experiment system 10 is explained. The experiment system
10 is a system that the experimenter uses in an experiment and
includes a microscope apparatus 40 and an external storage
apparatus 50. The microscope apparatus 40 is a first experiment
apparatus of the experiment system and includes a microscope 20 and
a microscope control apparatus 30 that is a computer that controls
the microscope 20. The microscope apparatus 40 is, for example, a
laser-scanning microscope apparatus and scans the specimen with
laser light to generate a microscopic image of the subject that is
an example of first experiment result information and outputs it to
the external storage apparatus 50. In addition, the microscope
apparatus 40 generates a log of the microscope 20 that is an
example of first log data and outputs it to the external storage
apparatus 50.
FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration of the microscope 20 included
the experiment information management system 1 as an example. The
microscope 20 is, for example, a laser-scanning microscope and may
include a plurality of lasers 21 (an Ar laser 21a, a HeNe-G laser
21b, a HeNe-R laser 21c), a scanning unit 22, a plurality of
objectives 23, and a stage 24, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Meanwhile,
the microscope 20 may have a plurality of detection channels and
may be equipped with a plurality of barrier filters 25 (a barrier
filter 25a, a barrier filter 25b) and a plurality of photodetectors
26 (a photodetector 26a, a photodetector 26b). The microscope 20
may be equipped with a plurality of dichroic mirrors DM 1 through
DM 3 between the lasers 21 and the scanning unit 22 and may be
equipped with a dichroic mirror DM 4 between the scanning unit 22
and the barrier filter 25. The microscope may further be equipped
with a control unit 27 that drives the respective parts of the
microscope 20 according to instructions from the microscope control
apparatus 30.
The scanning unit 22 is, for example, a Galvano scanner, a resonant
scanner. The objectives 23 are, for example, immersion or dry
microscope objectives. The stage 24 is, for example, a motor-driven
stage. The photodetector 26 is, for example, a photomultiplier
tube.
Meanwhile, the microscope 20 is not limited to a laser-scanning
microscope. The light source of the microscope 20 may also be a
lamp light source, an LED, or the like without being limited to the
laser. In addition, the photodetector of the microscope 20 may also
be a photo diode included in an image sensor such as a CCD, a CMOS,
or the like, without being limited to the photomultiplier tube. In
addition, the observation method (microscopy) of the microscope 20
may be bright field observation, dark field observation,
fluorescence observation, differential interference contrast
observation, phase difference observation, and the like.
Furthermore, the microscope 20 may be an upright microscope or it
may also be an inverted microscope.
FIG. 3 illustrates a configuration of the microscope control
apparatus 30 included in the experiment information management
system 1 as an example. The microscope control apparatus 30 is, for
example, a standard computer. More specifically, the microscope
control apparatus 30 is equipped with a processor 31, a memory 32,
a storage apparatus 33, a portable recording medium driving
apparatus 34 that accommodates a portable recording medium 35, an
input apparatus 36, a display apparatus 37, a network interface 38,
and a bus 39, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Meanwhile, the memory 32,
the storage apparatus 33, and the portable recording medium 35 are
respectively an example of a non-transitory computer-readable
storage medium that stores a program.
The processor 31 is an arbitrary processing circuit that includes,
for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The processor 31
executes a program stored in the memory 32 or the storage apparatus
33 to perform the programed processes. The memory 32 is a working
memory of the processor 31. The memory 32 is an arbitrary
semiconductor memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or the
like. The storage apparatus 33 is a non-volatile memory such as an
EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), a hard disk drive, or the
like.
The portable recording medium driving apparatus 34 is able to
output data stored in the memory 32 or the storage apparatus 33 to
the portable recording medium 35 and is also able to read programs,
data, and the like from the portable recording medium 35. The
portable recording medium 35 is an arbitrary portable medium. The
portable recording medium 35 includes, for example, an SD card, a
USB (Universal Serial Bus) flash memory, a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD
(Digital Versatile Disc), and the like.
The input apparatus 36 is, for example, a mouse, a joystick, a
touch panel apparatus, and the like. The display apparatus 37 may
be, for example, an organic EL display, a cathode-ray tube display,
and the like.
The network interface 38 performs input and output of information
to the network. As the network interface 38, an NIC (Network
Interface Card), a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) card, and the
like may be adopted. The bus 39 connects the processor 31, the
memory 32, the storage apparatus 33, and so on in a manner in which
data may be mutually exchanged.
The microscope apparatus 40 mentioned above is an example of a
first experiment apparatus that generates a microscopic image as
first experiment result information. Meanwhile, the first
experiment apparatus of the experiment system 10 may also be a cell
counter or the like that counts the number of cells, the cell
density, and the like, without being limited to the microscope
apparatus. In addition, the first experiment apparatus may also be
an imaging apparatus that captures an image of a culture in an
incubator, or the like. Meanwhile, in a case in which the first
experiment apparatus is a cell counter, the first experiment result
information is the number of cells, the cell density, and so
on.
The external storage apparatus 50 is a recording apparatus that
records the microscopic images (the first experiment result
information) and the first log data generated in the microscope
apparatus 40. It is, for example, a network storage (NAS) and is
connected to the microscope control apparatus 30 via the network.
Meanwhile, the external storage apparatus 50 is not limited to the
NAS. It may be any storage apparatus that is accessible by the
microscope control apparatus 30.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the processes performed in the experiment
system 10. FIG. 5 illustrates the table 50a for authentication in
the experiment system 10 as an example. FIG. 6 is a drawing for
explaining the timings of obtaining and recording experiment
information. FIG. 7 illustrates log data 50b recorded in the
external storage apparatus 50 as an example. Hereinafter, referring
to FIG. 4 through FIG. 7, the processes performed in the experiment
system 10 are explained. Meanwhile, the processes in FIG. 4 are
performed by, for example, the processor 31 of the microscope
control apparatus 30 by loading the program read out from the
storage apparatus 33 onto the memory 32 and executing it.
When the experimenter accesses the experiment system 10, first, the
microscope control apparatus 30 performs a user authentication
process (Step S1). Here, the processor 31 authenticates the
experimenter as an authorized user registered in the experiment
system 10 by collating the user ID and the password input by the
experimenter with information stored in the table 50a for
authentication illustrated in FIG. 5. Meanwhile, the table 50a is
formed in advance in the external storage apparatus 50.
After that, when the experimenter conducts an experiment using the
microscope apparatus 40, the microscope apparatus 40 generates log
data of the microscope 20 and outputs it to the storage apparatus
33 as first log data (Step S2). The first log data includes, for
example, operation information that identifies the operation that
the experimenter performed with respect to the microscope 20, but
it is not limited to the operation information. For example, it may
include information that identifies the microscope 20 (for example,
the microscope name), information that identifies the facility in
which the microscope 20 is located (for example, the facility
name), information that identifies the state of the microscope 20
(for example, setting information of the microscope 20), and so
on.
In Step S2, the timings at which the first log data are output to
the storage apparatus 33 are, as illustrated in FIG. 6, at the time
when an event occurs, at the time of polling, and so on. The first
log data that indicate the switching of the objectives 23, GUI
operations, or the like are output at the timing when the event
occurs. In addition, regarding log data that indicate the position
of the stage 24, the position of the focusing device, and the like,
polling is regularly performed for the hardware, and the result of
the polling is output as the first log data.
Meanwhile, when a microscopic image is generated, the microscope
apparatus 40 outputs the microscopic image to the storage apparatus
33 as the first experiment result information (Step S3). Here, the
first experiment result information is experiment information that
the experimenter explicitly instructed to obtain. Apart from the
microscopic image, for example, any measurement results obtained in
the microscope apparatus 40, calculation results calculated from
the microscopic image, and so on, may be included.
Further, the microscope apparatus 40 outputs, to the external
storage apparatus 50, the first log data and the first experiment
result information that have been output to the storage apparatus
33 (Step S4). In Step S4, when the processor 31 outputs the first
log data and the first experiment result information stored in the
storage apparatus 33 to the external storage apparatus 50, the
external storage apparatus 50 records the first log data and the
first experiment result information in a state in which they are
associated with the user ID, under a directory specified by the
experimenter. Meanwhile, the log data 50b illustrated in FIG. 7 is
an example of first log data record in the external storage
apparatus 50 and includes information of the date and time of the
output, the output source, the type, the contents, and so on.
Here, the state in which they are associated with the user ID
refers to the state in which it is possible to identify with which
user ID they are associated. Specifically, for example, the first
log data and the user ID may be associated by including the user ID
in log data indicating at least the log in and log out. In this
case, the first log data output between the login time and the
logout time can be identified as associated with the logged-in user
ID. Meanwhile, the first log data and the user ID may be associated
by including the user ID in all the first log data. In addition,
instead of including the user ID in the first log data, the user ID
may be associated with the first log data by recording it
separately from the first log data. Meanwhile, the state in which
the first experiment result information is associated with the user
ID may also include the state in which the first experiment result
information and the user ID are associated by means of reference to
the first log data, without being limited to the state in which the
first experiment result information and the user ID are directly
associated with each other. For example, the external storage
apparatus 50 may record the first experiment result information in
the state in which the first experiment result information is
associated with the user ID, by including, in the first log data
associated with the user ID, the path in which the first experiment
result information is recorded. The association with the user ID
may be performed at the timing of the output to the storage
apparatus 33, or it may also be performed at the timing of the
recording in the external storage apparatus 50.
Meanwhile, there are no particular limitations regarding the timing
of the transfer of the first log data and the first experiment
result information in Step S4. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the
transfer may be performed from the storage apparatus 33 to the
external storage apparatus collectively at the time of login or
logout, or the transfer may be performed from the storage apparatus
33 to the external storage apparatus 50 on a real-time basis while
logged in.
As described above, the experiment system 10 is able to
automatically output the first log data and the first experiment
result information to the external storage apparatus 50 during the
period from the log in of the experimenter to the experiment system
10 to the log out. In addition, the experiment system 10 is able to
record the first log data and the first experiment result
information in a state in which they are associated with the user
ID, in the external storage apparatus 50.
Next, the experiment note system 100 is explained. The experiment
note system 100 is a system that generates and displays electronic
experiment notes and includes a server 110 and a server 120, as
illustrated in FIG. 1. The server 110 is an example of an
experiment note generation apparatus of the experiment note system
100 and generates an experiment note according to at least the
first experiment result information and the first log data recorded
in the external storage apparatus 50. Here, an experiment note is
the record of an experiment to be a material proof that the
experiment has been conducted and are also the records that
indicates what experiment has been conducted and what results have
been obtained as a consequence. Specifically, the experiment notes
include at least the following three kinds of information, (1) the
date on which the experiment is conducted, (2) the parameters of
the experiment apparatus (for example, the parameters of the
microscope), and (3) information that identifies the file generated
in the experiment apparatus (for example, a file name or the like).
Meanwhile, the experiment note may further include the name of the
experimenter, the name of the facility, information obtained from
other apparatuses (for example, the vital information of the
specimen, the CO2 concentration, information of the culture medium,
and so on). In addition, it is desirable that the experiment notes
are not a simple list of experiment information but is analyzed and
organized experiment information. The server 120 is an example of a
display screen generation apparatus of the experiment note system
100 and generates an experiment note display screen according to at
least the experiment note.
FIG. 8 illustrates a configuration of the experiment note system
100 as an example. The server 110 and the server 120 are, for
example, a standard computer. More specifically, the server 110
includes a processor 111, a memory 112, a storage apparatus 113, a
network interface 114, and a bus 115, as illustrated in FIG. 8.
Meanwhile, the server 120 includes a processor 121, the memory 122,
the storage apparatus 123, a network interface 124, and a bus 125,
as illustrated in FIG. 8. Meanwhile, the memory 112, the storage
apparatus 113, the memory 122, and the storage apparatus 123 are
respectively an example of a non-transitory computer-readable
storage medium that stores a program.
The processor 111 and the processor 121 are, for example, an
arbitrary processing circuit that includes a CPU (Central
Processing Unit). The processor 111 and the processor 121 execute a
program stored in the memory (the memory 112, the memory 122) or
the storage apparatus (the storage apparatus 113, the storage
apparatus 123) to perform the programed processes.
The memory 112 is a working memory of the processor 111, and the
memory 122 is a working memory of the processor 121. The memory 112
and the memory 122 are an arbitrary semiconductor memory such as a
RAM (Random Access Memory) or the like. The storage apparatus 113
and the storage apparatus 123 are a non-volatile memory such as an
EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), a hard disk drive, or the
like.
The network interface 114 and the network interface 124 perform
input and output of information to the network. As the network
interface 114 and the network interface 124, an NIC (Network
Interface Card), a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) card, and the
like may be adopted. The bus 115 and the bus 125 connect the
respective parts of the servers in a manner in which data may be
mutually exchanged.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the experiment notes generation process
performed in the experiment note system 100. Hereinafter, referring
to FIG. 9, the experiment notes generation process that is an
example of the experiment information management method of the
experiment note system 100 is explained. The experiment notes
generation process illustrated in FIG. 9 is performed by, for
example, the processor 111 of the server 110 by loading the program
read out from the storage apparatus 113 onto the memory 112 and
executing it. This program is, for example, a program of batch
processing and is executed at a prescribed date and time (for
example, weekday nights).
When the experiment notes generation process starts, first, the
server 110 reads data from the external storage apparatus 50 (Step
S11). Here, the processor 111 accesses the external storage
apparatus 50 through the network interface 114 and reads out the
first log data and the first experiment result information from the
external storage apparatus 50. That is, the network interface 114
is an example of an obtaining unit of experiment note generation
apparatus that obtains the first log data and the first experiment
result information generated in the microscope apparatus 40.
Next, the server 110 classifies the data by identification
information (Step S12). Here, the identification information is the
user ID being user identification information that identifies the
user of the experiment system 10. Meanwhile, in the case in which
the first log data and the first experiment result information
associated with the user ID are stored in a different directory for
each user ID as described above, the processor 111 classifies the
first log data and the first experiment result information by the
user ID by reading out the first log data and the first experiment
result information for each directory. Meanwhile, in a case in
which the storage is not made in a different directory for each
user ID, the processor 111 identifies the user ID associated with
the first log data and the first experiment result information
according to a prescribed rule and classifies the first log data
and the first experiment result information by the user ID.
After that, the server 110 generates an experiment note for each
identification information, using the data classified by the
identification information (Step S13). Here, the processor 111
generates an experiment note for each user ID by generating an
experiment note using the first log data and the first experiment
result information associated with the same user ID. That is, the
processor 111 is an example of a generating unit of the experiment
note generation apparatus that generates an experiment note
according to at least the first experiment result information and
the first log data.
Lastly, the server 110 records the generated experiment note (Step
S14). Here, the processor 111 records the experiment notes
generated for each user ID in the storage apparatus 113. Meanwhile,
the experiment note may also be registered in a database built in
the storage apparatus 113. Accordingly, it becomes possible to
easily restrict the access to and update of the experiment note,
and so on.
As described above, the experiment note system 100 is able to
automatically generate and record an experiment note according to
the first log data and the first experiment result information
generated in the microscope apparatus 40.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the display screen generation process
performed in the experiment note system 100. FIG. 11 illustrates a
table 113a for authentication permission control of the experiment
note system 100 as an example. FIG. 12 illustrates an example of
the experiment note display screen. Hereinafter, referring to FIG.
10 through FIG. 12, the display screen generation process that is
an example of the information management method of the experiment
note system 100 is explained. Meanwhile, the display screen
generation process illustrated in FIG. 10 is performed by, for
example, the processor 121 of the server 120 by loading the program
read out from the storage apparatus 123 onto the memory 122 and
executing it. The program is, for example, a Web application
program, executed in response to HTTP requests from client
terminals (a client terminal 2, a client terminal 3). The client
terminals are, for example, a stationary computer, but it may also
be a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone, and the
like.
When the experimenter or a related person (hereinafter, simply
referred to as a user) accesses the experiment note system 100
using the client terminal 2 for example, first, the server 120
performs a user authentication process (Step S21). Here, the
processor 121 authenticates the user as an authorized user
registered in the experiment note system 100 by collating the user
ID and the password input by the user with information stored in
the table 113a for authentication permission control illustrated in
FIG. 11 and further gives authority with respect to the experiment
note system 100. The user is allowed to access experiment notes
within the scope according to the given access authority. The user
is allowed to update experiment notes within the scope according to
the given update authority.
When the authenticated user selects experiment notes to be
displayed, the server 120 receives a display screen request (Step
S22) and generates an experiment note display screen (Step S23). In
Step S23, for example, in a case in which the experiment note of an
experiment conducted by the user ID "10000001" has been requested,
the processor 121 identifies the experiment note corresponding to
the user ID "10000001" and generates the experiment note display
screen according to the identified experiment note.
The experiment note display screen displays prescribed information
(the name of the experimenter, the title of the experiment, the
date of the experiment, the facility for the experiment, the
purpose of the experiment, the conditions of the experiment, the
name of the experiment apparatus, the name of the objective, the
results of the experiment, notes, microscopic images) as in the
screen W1 in FIG. 12. In the fields for displaying the name of the
experimenter, the date of the experiment, the facility for the
experiment, the name of the experiment apparatus, the name of the
objective, the results of the experiment among the above
information items, for example, information generated according to
the log data included in the experiment note is displayed.
Meanwhile, in the field for displaying microscopic images, the
microscopic images included in the experiment note are displayed.
The other fields (the title of the experiment, the purpose of the
experiment, the conditions of the experiment, notes) are displayed
as blank fields.
Upon generating the experiment note display screen, the server 120
transmits the generated experiment note display screen to the
client terminal 2 (Step S24). Accordingly, the screen W1
illustrated in FIG. 12 is displayed in the display unit of the
client terminal 2.
After that, when a user who has update authority inputs information
in the input field of the screen W1 (the title of the experiment,
the purpose of the experiment, the conditions of the experiment,
notes), the server 120 receives the information input to the screen
W1 (Step S25) and updates the experiment note according to at least
the received information (Step S26). Here, the processor 121
accesses the storage apparatus 113 through the storage apparatus
123 and updates the experiment note.
As described above, the experiment note system 100 is able to
generate the experiment note display screen upon the request from
the client terminal according to the experiment note generated in
advance by the experiment note generation apparatus and to display
the experiment note display screen on the client terminal.
In the experiment note system 100 according to the present
embodiment, for the experimenter, the experiment note is
automatically generated as to the experiment is conducted using the
experiment apparatus as usual. For this reason, it becomes possible
for the experimenter to conduct the experiment without worrying
about omissions of records and to focus on the experiment more than
before. In addition, since the work load for keeping the records of
experiment notes is reduced, it also becomes possible to conduct
multiple experiments parallelly in terms of time. In addition, for
example, in some cases such as when the experiment is conducted in
a dark room where the light cannot be turned on for recording
notes, it becomes possible to avoid situations where it is
impossible to record experiment notes because of restrictions due
to the experiment environment.
Furthermore, in the experiment note system 100, the experiment note
is generated from information collected broadly using the log data
of the experiment apparatus in addition to the experiment result
information that is experiment information for which the
experimenter has explicitly given instruction. Accordingly,
experiment notes with enhanced description items can be obtained.
In addition, it is also very useful that experiment notes with
standardized description items regardless of the experimenter and
the purpose of the experiment can be obtained. In a comparison with
conventional experiment notes in this regard, conventionally, in
the experiment note N2 of an experiment focusing on the brightness
(for example, an experiment 2), information that influences the
brightness, such as the intensity of the excitation light, the
sensitivity of the detector, and so on (see the field R2 in FIG.
13) are included as illustrated in FIG. 13, whereas in the
experiment note N1 of an experiment focusing on the shape (for
example, an experiment 1), information that influences the
brightness is often not recorded. For this reason, it is difficult
to compare experiment with different purposes in many cases, and
effective utilization of experiment notes tend to be restricted. By
contrast, with the experiment note generated in the experiment note
system 100, entry items are standardized, and therefore, it becomes
possible to compare any experiments regardless of the purpose of
the experiment.
As described above, according to the experiment note system 100, it
becomes possible to generate experiment notes that may be
effectively utilized, while reducing the burden of experimenters.
In addition, by the digitization of experiment notes, it becomes
possible to publish experiment notes in the state in which browsing
and update are restricted by the computer system. For this reason,
there will be less hesitation in publishing experiment notes, and
it becomes possible to suppress situations where related people
other than the experimenter are unable to know the location of
experiment notes and unable to utilize the experiment notes.
FIG. 14 illustrates another example of the experiment note display
screen. In FIG. 12, an experiment note display screen that includes
microscopic images is illustrated as an example, but the experiment
note display screen does not have to include microscopic images
themselves, as long as it includes fields for displaying the first
experiment result information.
For example, in an experiment information management system 1 that
includes a cell counter instead of the microscope apparatus 40 as
the experiment apparatus, a screen W2 that includes a field (see
the field R21 in FIG. 14) that displays the number of cells as the
first experiment result information as illustrated in FIG. 14 may
be displayed as the experiment note display screen.
FIG. 15 illustrates an example of an experiment selection screen.
While an example in which the experiment note is generated for each
user ID is illustrated, the experiment note may also be generated
for each experiment. That is, using experiment identification
information that identifies experiments instead of the user ID, the
server 110 being the experiment note generation apparatus may
generate an experiment note for each experiment identification
information.
However, in studies, it depends on the experimenter what range is
to be considered as one experiment. Therefore, when the experiment
identification information is used as identification information,
on the screen W3 in FIG. 15 displayed after the experimenter logs
in to the experiment system 10, the experimenter may be prompted to
choose the experiment. Accordingly, it becomes possible for the
experiment system to determine experiment identification
information according to the operation of the experimenter who is
the user of the microscope apparatus 40, and the external storage
apparatus 50 may record the first experiment result information and
the first log data in a state in which they are associated with the
experiment identification information. Therefore, the server 110
being the experiment note generation apparatus is able to generate
an experiment note for each experiment in units of experiments
recognized by the experimenter.
FIG. 16 illustrates yet another example of the experiment note
display screen. The server 120 being the display screen generation
apparatus may generate the experiment note display screen that
displays an experiment while segmenting it on a timeline, as
illustrated in the screen W4 of FIG. 16. In response to the
selection of one of the fields arranged on the timeline (fields R41
through R45), the server 120 may generate an experiment note
display screen that displays the details of the experiment
conducted on the selected date and time.
FIG. 17 illustrates yet another example of the experiment note
display screen. FIG. 18 is a drawing for explaining how to use the
experiment note display screen illustrated in FIG. 17. The server
120 may generate, according to at least an experiment note
generated in the server 110, an experiment note display screen
(screen W5) as illustrated in FIG. 17 that includes a field R51 for
displaying microscopic images being the first experiment result
information and fields (field R52, field R53) for graphically
displaying the temporal change of the state of the microscope
apparatus 40 being the first experiment apparatus. The field R52
and the field R53 are generated according to at least time-series
data included in the experiment note. More specifically, the field
R52 and the field R53 are generated according to the time-series
data being time-series data included in the experiment note in the
period that includes an obtaining period for obtaining the
microscopic image and that is longer than the obtaining period.
In the field R52, the track of the movement of the stage 24 in the
XY direction (the direction orthogonal to the optical axis of the
objective 23) is drawn. The point P1 in the field R52 is indicates
the position of the stage 24 at the time when the microscopic image
displayed in the field R51 is obtained. Meanwhile, in the field
R53, graphs that indicates the switching operation of the
objectives by the revolver (broken line), the focusing operation of
the focusing apparatus (solid line), and the obtaining period for
obtaining the microscopic image (thick solid line) are drawn. The
point P2 in the field R53 indicates the time at which the
microscopic image displayed in the field R51 is obtained.
Conventionally, the work load is very large even just for recording
the state of the microscope apparatus at the time when the
microscopic image is obtained, and therefore, detailed operation
history is not recorded in experiment notes. For this reason, it is
not possible to know the experiment procedure and detailed
operations of the experiment apparatus from conventional experiment
notes. By contrast, in the experiment note system 100, as
illustrated in FIG. 17, it is possible to generate an experiment
note display screen that includes a field for graphically
displaying the temporal change of the state of the first experiment
apparatus (especially, the temporal change in the period that is
longer than the image obtaining period). For this reason, it is
possible to accurately understand in what procedures the
experimenter conducted the experiment and how the experiment
apparatus operated to obtain the experiment result information (the
microscopic image).
Accordingly, it also becomes possible to use experiment notes as
technical materials explaining the experiment procedures in detail,
and they may be used for transferring of technology and skills, and
for the education of researchers. They may also be materials for
discussion for improving experiment procedures. In addition, with
experiment procedures recorded in detail, it also becomes easy to
prove the reproductivity of experiments by reproductive
experiments. Therefore, it also becomes possible to increase the
reliability of experiment results. Furthermore, when results of
experiments conducted multiple times are different, they may be
used for investigating the cause. For example, as illustrated in
FIG. 18, identifying the different in the state of the experiment
apparatus in two experiments, it becomes possible to effectively
study the cause of the difference in the experiment results. Here,
comparing FIG. 18A and FIG. 18B, the objective in the image
capturing started at 11 o'clock is identified as different (see the
field A and the field B).
FIG. 19 illustrates yet another example of the experiment note
display screen. FIG. 20A and FIG. 20B are a drawing for explaining
how to use the experiment note display screen illustrated in FIG.
19. In a case in which measurement result output from a sensor S
mounted on the mouse M (see FIG. 2) has been recorded, the server
110 may generate an experiment note according to at least a
microscopic image and first log data generated in the microscope
apparatus 40, as well as the measurement result output from the
sensor S. Meanwhile, the sensor S is, for example, an
electrocardiogram device.
The server 120 may generate, according to at least an experiment
note generated in the server 110, an experiment note display screen
(screen W6) as illustrated in FIG. 19 that includes a field (field
R62) for graphically displaying the temporal change of the state of
the microscope apparatus 40 and a field (field R63) for graphically
displaying the temporal change of the state of the microscope
apparatus 40 and the temporal change of the state of the mouse M.
The field R62 and the field R63 are generated according to at least
time-series data included in the experiment note. More
specifically, the field R62 and the field R63 are generated
according to the time-series data being time-series data included
in the experiment note in the period that includes an obtaining
period for obtaining the microscopic image and that is longer than
the obtaining period.
The field R62 is similar to the field R52 illustrated in FIG. 17,
and therefore, the explanation is omitted. The field R63 differs
from the field R53 illustrated in FIG. 17 in that the
electrocardiogram waveform (solid line) is additionally drawn
according to the measurement result output from the sensor S.
By generating the experiment note display screen illustrated in
FIG. 19, a similar effect is also obtained in the case in which the
experiment note display screen illustrated in FIG. 17 is generated.
Furthermore, with information obtained apart from the first
experiment apparatus operated by the experimenter being included in
experiment notes, it becomes possible to understand the experiment
result more accurately. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 20A
and 20B, by identifying the difference in the states of the
specimen in the two experiments, it is possible to study the
possibility that the cause of the difference is not in the
experiment procedure but in the state of the specimen. Here,
comparing FIG. 20A and FIG. 20B, the heart rate of the specimen in
the image capturing started at 12 o'clock is identified as
different (see the field C and the field D). In addition, the
difference may also be identified not only in the momentary heart
rate but also in matters such as whether the heart rate is stable
in the period or is changing in the period.
Second Embodiment
FIG. 21 illustrates a configuration of an experiment information
management system 1a according to the present embodiment as an
example. The experiment information management system 1a
illustrated in FIG. 21 differs from the experiment information
management system 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 in that it includes an
experiment system 10a instead of the experiment system 10.
The experiment system 10a differs from the experiment system 10 in
that it includes a plurality of microscope apparatuses (a
microscope apparatus 40a, a microscope apparatus 40b) that are
respectively an experiment apparatus. The microscope apparatus 40a
is a first experiment apparatus of the experiment system 10a and is
similar to the microscope apparatus 40 illustrated in FIG. 1. The
microscope apparatus 40b is a second experiment apparatus of the
experiment system 10a that is different from the microscope
apparatus 40a. The microscope apparatus 40b generates second
experiment result information and second log data. In the present
embodiment, it is preferable that identification information that
identifies the experiment apparatus is included in log data.
Meanwhile, the identification information that identifies the
experiment apparatus may also be included in log data in the first
embodiment.
The external storage apparatus 50 records the first experiment
result information and the first log data in the state in which
they are associated with identification information such as the
user ID and also records the second experiment result information
and the second log data in the state in which they are associated
with the identification information.
Accordingly, in the experiment information management system 1a,
the server 110 is able to classify the first experiment result
information, the first log data, the second experiment result
information and the second log data by identification information
and to generate an experiment note for each identification
information.
According to the experiment information management system 1a, an
effect similar to that of the experiment information management
system 1 may also be obtained. In addition, in experiment
information management system 1a, an experiment note may be
generated in a manner in which experiments conducted using
different experiment apparatuses are put together. For example, in
a case in which a surgical operation is performed using a
stereoscopic microscope being the first experiment apparatus, and
after that, the specimen is observed using a fluorescence
microscope being the second experiment apparatus, by creating the
records of the experiments conducted using the two experiment
apparatuses as one experiment note, it becomes possible to learn
matters such as that the difference in the amount of bleeding in
the surgical operation causes a difference in the subsequence
progress.
Third Embodiment
FIG. 22 illustrates a configuration of an experiment information
management system 1b according to the present embodiment. The
experiment information management system 1b differs from the
experiment information management system 1a in that a plurality of
experiment apparatuses are located in different facilities from
each other, and the external storage apparatus 50 and the
experiment note system 100 are provided as a cloud service. That
is, at least part of transmission lines between each of the
plurality of the experiment apparatuses and the external storage
apparatus 50 is the Internet. In the present embodiment, it is
desirable that identification information that identifies the
experiment apparatus and identification information that identifies
the facility are included in log data. Meanwhile, the
identification information that identifies the experiment apparatus
and the facility may also be included in log data in the second
embodiment. Other points are similar to the experiment information
management system 1a illustrated in FIG. 21.
According to the experiment information management system 1b, an
effect similar to that of the experiment information management
system 1a may also be obtained. In addition, in the experiment
information management system 1b, unlike the experiment information
management system 1a that is equipped with the on-premise external
storage apparatus 50, the external storage apparatus 50 is located
on the cloud, making it possible to easily put together, in one
experiment note, the records of experiments conducted with a
plurality of experiment apparatuses placed in different facilities
(that is, different locations). In addition, with the experiment
note system 100 being placed on the cloud, as long as being
connected with the Internet, it is possible to access the
experiment note system 100 from any location to browse experiment
notes.
The embodiments described above present specific examples for
facilitating the understanding of the invention, and embodiments of
the present invention are not limited to them. A part of the
embodiments described above may be applied to other embodiments.
The experiment information management system, the experiment note
system, the experiment note generation apparatus, the screen
generation apparatus, the experiment information management method,
and the computer-readable medium may be modified and changed in
various ways within the scope of the claims. For example, the
server 110 and the server 120 may be a single apparatus rather than
being separate apparatuses. Meanwhile, the external storage
apparatus 50 may be the storage apparatus 113 of the server 110. In
addition, the microscope apparatus 40 may access information source
that provides weather information, and the external storage
apparatus 50 may record weather information obtained by the
microscope apparatus 40 as log data.
* * * * *